


The Promise

by doctorkilljoy



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Not Beta Read, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-27 15:24:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,049
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20048272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doctorkilljoy/pseuds/doctorkilljoy
Summary: Morgan Stark has arrived, and Tony is terrified. After how Howard treated him, he's convinced he's going to screw up in raising Morgan. That's when Pepper and Rhodey call in Steve Rogers to help.





	The Promise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [raving_liberal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/gifts).

> This came about because I had a weird idea. Said idea spawned because of a throw away comment from Howard Stark during the fourth episode of Agent Carter season one. Also it's kind of important to emphasise that just because your parents are less than ideal doesn't mean you're gonna be a bad parent. I wrote this in a day so forgive me for any mistakes.

He’d been awake for too long. He knew it, Pepper knew it, Rhodey damn well knew it. But he couldn’t help himself. She was so tiny! She had a face like a baby pitbull, and she slept most of the time. But there she was, Morgan Stark. His daughter. And he loved her so much his heart was fit to burst.

He was also hiding out in the garage and watching her on a baby  monitor .

“Tony, come on,” Pepper said. “Enough is enough. You need to get a shower and get some sleep.”

“Two more hours,” Tony muttered as he tightened the bolts on his latest invention.

“Tones,” said Rhodey. “You’re gonna blow yourself up. And… Don’t you want to spend some time with Morgan?”

Tony gestured to… He couldn’t remember what he was building. “It’s to keep her safe,” he muttered.

Pepper threw her hands in the air in exasperation and said, “Fine. When you want to involve yourself in your daughter’s life, shoot me an email.” And she walked out. He winced at that. Raised voices and slamming doors. He checked the  monitor  but Morgan hadn’t stirred. She slumbered on,  blissfully  unaware of how evil the world could be.

Rhodey approached, and he gripped Tony’s shoulder. “Come on man, we’re worried about you. Give it a rest.”

“She’s fine,” Tony muttered. “I’m fine, Pepper’s fine. I need more time to work on this.”

Rhodey shook his head and left the room as well.

* * *

“You told me it was bad, I didn’t know it was this bad,” he said.

Pepper sighed and collapsed on the couch. “I can’t reach him. I’ve tried everything but he… Rhodey, he’s afraid to be near her.”

“Yeah.” He sat down on the couch next to Pepper. “You know why, right?”

“Because Howard Stark was a bastard and if Bucky hadn’t already killed him I would?” She growled, and Rhodey nodded.

“Exactly.”

“He’s nothing like Howard,” she said. “I’ve told him that a hundred times but he won’t believe it.”

“No offense, Pep, but you never met Howard. That’s why your words aren’t holding much weight with those assurances,” Rhodey told her.

She ran her hands over her face and through her hair, letting out a low sigh. “What was he like?”

“Howard?” Rhodey asked and Pepper nodded. “He… He was always nice to me. Sometimes acted a little buddy buddy but kept me at arm’s length. Sometimes Howard would try to reach out to Tony. But the damage was already done, you know? You can only tell your kid to get out of your way so many times before they avoid you completely.”

“He’s told me a few things that Howard did when he was a kid,” she admitted. “Spankings, slapping him, kicking him. He locked him in a closet one time because Tony was getting on his nerves. Who does that to their child?”

“Someone who shouldn’t have been a parent in the first place. I could never figure out why Howard and Maria had Tony. Howard was abusive, Maria was neglectful. I sometimes think they only had him for appearance's sake and I know that Tony thinks the same thing,” said Rhodey.

Pepper nodded. “ I wonder  that too. Did Tony show you the film?”

“The one where Howard said Tony was his greatest creation?” He asked and she nodded. “I saw it. Couldn’t believe it, even though that was definitely Howard Stark saying it.”

“Why did he do it?” She wondered and Rhodey shrugged.

“Don’t know.  Maybe  he was feeling sentimental.  Maybe  he was drunk. I couldn’t say either way. The only people who knew him back then are dead.”

She  suddenly  turned to Rhodey and said, “Not  all of  them.”

Rhodey raised an eyebrow, then said, “No. Pepper, you can’t. He’ll have a fit. Not to mention he wasn’t around for when Tony was born.”

“No, but he knew Howard before that. He can offer some insight so that Tony stops acting like a hermit mad scientist. And actually spends some time with Morgan,” Pepper replied. She got up and went to get her phone, adding, “I’m calling him.”

Rhodey sighed and rubbed his face. This was going to go  badly . If he showed up at all.

* * *

His eyes were starting to feel like fire ants were biting them, and rubbing them wasn’t helping. He was out of coffee, and he didn’t dare go into the house for more. Not until--

“Tony?”

He dropped his wrench and  slowly  turned around on his stool.

“What are you doing here?” Tony asked.

Steve Rogers was standing in his garage. With… Was that a baby basket?

“I brought gifts for Morgan,” he said. Tony could see a stuffed rabbit, onesies, and he was pretty sure there were some cloth diapers in there.

“Great, gifts received, great seeing you Cap,” Tony replied and turned back to his workbench.

“Pepper called me,” he said and Tony had to keep from cursing.

“Of course she did. What, you’re going to throw me over your shoulder and drag me in the house?”

“No, nothing like that. Can I sit down?”

“If you can find a chair.”

Tony heard a few things moving around, and then there was Steve, in his peripheral vision. Sitting there and staring at him. Tony did his best to ignore him, and it was working until Steve asked, “What is that?”

“Security system,” he said.

“You already have a security system.”

“This one is better. Police, fire, ambulance, even calls the Avengers. And it has an energy shield that should protect her from at least fifty atomic bombs,” Tony explained.

“And do you think someone is going to launch fifty atomic bombs at her?”

“Could happen.”

Steve sighed. “Tony, I understand you want to protect Morgan. But  maybe  you should go see her.”

“She’s right there,” Tony said, pointing to a hologram. Pepper was in the nursery with Morgan, feeding her. She was sitting in the rocking chair in the corner, smiling and talking to Morgan.

“I mean actually see her, with your own eyes. Hold her for a while,” Steve said.

Tony snorted and didn’t respond.

They were quiet for a while, then Steve asked, “Is this because of Howard?”

He froze, and for a moment he wanted to ignore Steve. Instead, he said, “Howard has nothing to do with this. I want to make sure Morgan’s safe.”

“But you don’t want to see her,” Steve concluded and Tony groaned.

“You’re not my psychiatrist,” he hissed.

“Are you seeing one?”

“Don’t need one.”

“You sure about that?”

Tony slammed his hands down on the workbench, jumping to his feet. He said, “I don’t need this! I’m going to do everything I can to make sure Morgan is safe! She’s going to grow up, she’s going to be happy and healthy, and she’s going to be brilliant and she doesn’t--” He cut himself off.

Steve had gotten up and asked, “You think she doesn’t need you?”

He didn’t reply. He knew he was going to cry, and God he did not want to cry in front of Steve. His throat had constricted, and the tears were coming.

“She does need you, Tony,” Steve said, putting a hand on Tony’s shoulder and squeezing. “She needs her father. And you’re not going to hurt her. You’re going to be an amazing father, you need to give yourself the chance.”

“I’m going to screw up,” he said, voice low, strained with the effort not to cry. “Dad screwed me up, his dad screwed him up. I’ll screw up Morgan and she’ll hate me.”

Steve frowned. “Actually, Howard always spoke very  highly  of his father.”

Finally, Tony looked at him, puzzled. “What?”

“Howard loved his father. He  was embarrassed by  him because he was a working-class stiff, but he loved him. It was… Well, Tony, your grandmother wasn’t the easiest person to live with,” Steve said.

“You… What?” Tony asked. Howard never talked about his parents, Tony’s grandparents. They’d both died long before Tony came along.

“He told me about them one night after he’d had too much to drink,” said Steve. “Your grandmother worked in a factory, sewing shirtwaists. She went on to sell them later, but when she was fourteen she worked at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory.”

Tony gulped. “You’re fucking with me.”

“I’m not. She worked there, she was one of the people who survived the fire by climbing onto the roof,” said Steve. “She was one of the few employees who dared to testify at the trial.”

“I remember reading about that,” said Tony. “The attorneys said the witnesses were unreliable. It was because their stories sounded rehearsed or something.”

“Exactly. It didn’t help no one believed the survivors. They were  mostly  Jewish and Italian immigrants who  barely  spoke English. She didn’t cope well. She did go on to marry and have Howard. She died by the time he reached high school. He said all he remembered about her was how much she smoked. And that she’d throw bootleg gin bottles at his head,” Steve said.

Tony rubbed his face. “So I am going to screw Morgan up.”

“No, you’re not,” Steve said. “I know Howard didn’t treat you the way a father should treat a son. I know that his mother didn’t treat him like a mother should treat her child. But I know you, Tony. And I know that you’re better than that. You can break the cycle.”

“I’m gonna fuck up though,” he muttered and Steve shrugged.

“It happens with every parent and child. When you mess up, fix it, and make sure she knows it won’t happen again,” said Steve.

Tony didn’t respond. He was looking at the  monitor  again. Pepper had finished feeding Morgan and had put her down in her crib. The angle changed, and there was Morgan. Tiny and perfect, and drifting off to sleep. He was crying now, and he rubbed at his face to rid himself of the tears.

Steve walked Tony out of the garage and guided him to Morgan’s room. Pepper was standing in the doorway, and she kissed Tony on the cheek. She gave him an encouraging push inside. His steps were hesitant, and he was three seconds from bolting. Until he stood by the crib.

Morgan was awake after all, and her lip was trembling. She let out a piercing shriek, and Tony immediately scooped her up and held her close to his chest. He  gently  rocked her, saying, “Hey, none of that. C’mon, I know you haven’t seen me since the delivery but you didn’t forget me already did you? Did you?” He held her up so she was eye level with him. She wasn’t crying anymore but if a baby could look confused, she sure did. “It’s me, your dad.”

She blinked and seemed to have already run out of gas. The parenting book he’d read said babies slept a lot. It was because they were growing and it was expending all their energy. The classes they'd gone to had stressed supporting the head. They'd also stressed skin to skin contact but he wasn't about to take his shirt off. Tony cradled here against his chest again and lost himself in the moment.

Here she was, all six pounds and two ounces of her. So small, so fragile. His heart was pounding and he  was scared  shitless. But as he held her, he knew Steve was right. Pepper and Rhodey had been right. He could never treat Morgan the way Howard had treated him. He kissed her forehead and went to sit in the rocking chair in the corner, the one Pepper had been in earlier.

Howard didn't take parenting classes. He didn't read books. He didn't try to build a superior security system to keep Tony safe.

Tony Stark held Morgan Stark and made a promise to himself. He was never going to be like his parents or his grandparents. He was going to love his daughter until the day he died, and beyond.

He heard the door close and Steve and Pepper walking away. Tony sighed and said, “I’m sorry I didn’t come to see you before, Little Miss Morgan. But now I’m here and you’re never gonna be rid of me.”

The End

**Author's Note:**

> [Tumblr](https://talkingcinemalight.tumblr.com/)


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